THQ Nordic acquires the “Kingdoms of Amalur” IP – among other assets from 38 Studios
Vienna/AUSTRIA, Providence, RI/USA, September 5th, 2018: THQ Nordic today announced that the acquisition of the intellectual property “Kingdoms of Amalur” has been finalized with 38 Studios LLC, based in Providence, RI, US. The deal also covered the acquisition of “Amalur” – based on the abandoned MMORPG project “Copernicus”.
The acquisition itself is being handled by THQ Nordic AB, based in Karlstad, Sweden, and daily operations (sales and distribution, evaluation of sequels & new content etc.) will be done via THQ Nordic GmbH in Vienna, Austria.
About Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
The minds of New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston have combined to create Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a new role-playing game set in a world worth saving. Build the character you’ve always wanted and continuously evolve it to your style of play with the revolutionary Destiny system. Choose your path and battle through a master-crafted universe featuring some of the most intense, responsive, and customizable RPG combat ever.
Short info:
- Release date: February 10th 2012
- SRP: £19.99 / €19.99
- Genre: Action, RPG
- Metacritic Score: 81 (accessed on September 5th 2018)
- Steam reviews: 87% positive (all reviews, accessed on September 5th 2018)
About THQ Nordic
Founded in 2011, THQ Nordic is a global video game publisher and developer. Based in Vienna (Austria) and Karlstad (Sweden), with subsidiaries in Germany, Sweden, and the USA. THQ Nordic brands include Darksiders, MX vs. ATV, Red Faction, Titan Quest, Biomutant, and many more.
THQ Nordic is meant to represent a core approach of doing much more than “owning” a highly competitive portfolio of IPs. It revolves around cherishing them, and aligning them with the very best development resources to expand upon them with the level of experience that communities and established fan bases expect and deserve.
The company’s internal development studios are:
- Grimlore Games GmbH based in Munich (Germany)
- Rainbow Studios Inc. based in Phoenix, Arizona (United States of America)
- Mirage Game Studios AB based in Karlstad (Sweden)
- Foxglove Studios AB based in Stockholm (Sweden)
- Black Forest Games GmbH based in Offenburg (Germany)
- Pieces Interactive AB based in Skoevde (Sweden)
- Experiment 101 AB based in Stockholm (Sweden)
Since July 2018, HandyGames (Giebelstadt, Germany) is part of the THQ Nordic network and perfectly complements the setup of the rest of our group as the new “go to”-publisher for small- and midsized developers and projects. The company has a very strong background in VR and publishing of mobile games.
THQ Nordic shares are publicly listed on Nasdaq First North Stockholm under the ticker THQNB:SS with FNCA Sweden AB as its Certified Adviser. For more investor-related information, please visit: http://www.thqnordic-investors.com/en/
The new Heart of Azeroth and Azerite items replace the artifact weapons from Legion. While the artifact weapons were initially really interesting, seeing so many max level characters in town wielding the same weapon could get visually boring. Instead, players will carry the same necklace throughout the expansion and will also be able to loot special items that offer class specific skills based on the player’s Azerite level. Since players will be able to use multiple Azerite items, players have a good bit of incentive to chase down that one item with the skills they really need.
Shenmue I is a bit of an odd game thanks to the way that its storyline is handled. Thanks to the fact that the game’s world is designed to feel as much like real life as possible players will need to track down NPCs as they all follow their own unique schedules, try and find various clues that will lead to dead ends, and much more. This means that the story, set in 80s Yokosuka, Japan, can progress at an incredibly slow and deliberate pace thanks to there being times players will need to wait almost an entire day to speak to a single character.
Once players progress to Shenmue II this personal touch is lost a bit as players leave the mainland and travel to Wan Chai, Hong Kong in search for Lan Di where the story moves at a brisker pace and the free exploration element dies down a bit. This is mostly due to the fact that, since Ryo isn’t familiar with his environment, players are helped out by a wide range of NPCs that are willing to assist and thanks to an expanded dialogue system not found in the first game players can easily access story points far easier than in the original game.
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